


when I do he turns away again

by invisibledaemon



Series: 12 Days of Starmora [8]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Extended Scene, F/M, Father Figures, groot isn't technically in this but they're talking about him, peter and gamora being parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 04:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13023720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisibledaemon/pseuds/invisibledaemon
Summary: "He did that thing,” he says, seeming to relax into her touch, but his expression is still distressed. “You know, where he takes that tone and rolls his eyes at everything I say and makes me feel like a dumb, boring old idiot.”“Peter,” she says softly. “Don’t take that personally. Groot thinkseverythingis boring lately.”





	when I do he turns away again

**Author's Note:**

> For 12 days of Starmora day 11 - childhood/memories
> 
> In the scene at the end credits of vol 2 where adolescent Groot calls Peter 'boring,' there's an extended version in the [script](http://waltdisneystudiosawards.com/media/scripts/GotG2.pdf) (on the last page) where Peter is a lot more upset by that than we see in the film. This is based on that. 
> 
> Title is from 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens bc ofc it is

Gamora hears the door slam all the way from the Quadrant’s kitchen, as well as the subsequent stomping down the hall, and she sighs. 

“Must’ve gone well,” Rocket mutters. 

“It doesn’t sound that way,” Drax says. Mantis nods in agreement and Rocket just shakes his head.

Gamora has already stood up, grabbing some toast and a couple pieces of fruit. “I’ll go see what happened.”

Peter was _supposed_ to go to Groot’s room and tell him to come out and eat breakfast, but she can still hear the sounds of videogames coming from behind Groot’s closed door. She decides to go after Peter first, though, as he must’ve been pretty upset to not come back to the kitchen. 

She’s not sure what she expected -- Peter staring up at the ceiling maybe, listening to his Zune and pouting, or perhaps kicking things around the room and cursing under his breath -- but it’s not _this_.

He’s sitting on the edge of their bed, hunched over with his head between his hands in a way he normally only does when crying.

“Peter?” she says quietly, striding over to the bed to sit next to him. She knows him well after four years together, knows how he likes to be comforted for nearly every situation -- and knows that he knows the same for her. 

She wraps an arm around his shoulders and pulls him in, inviting him to rest his head against her shoulder. He drags his hands away from his face and obeys, burying his face in her neck.

“What happened?” she asks.

Peter sniffles, and Gamora is glad to see that he’s not crying heavily, just a few stray tears. “He said I was boring.” 

“What else?” His words may sound petulant, but she _knows_ him; something that small wouldn’t upset him this much.

He doesn’t answer for a moment, busy shifting so he can rest his head on her lap instead of her shoulder. Her hand goes instantly to his hair, stroking it soothingly. 

“He did that thing,” he says, seeming to relax into her touch, but his expression is still distressed. “You know, where he takes that tone and rolls his eyes at everything I say and makes me feel like a dumb, boring old idiot.” 

“Peter,” she says softly. “Don’t take that personally. Groot thinks _everything_ is boring lately.”

“I know, but…” He sighs. “But then it made me start thinking about Yondu, and what a bratty kid I was, and how he must’ve felt when I did shit like that that.” 

“Oh,” she breathes; now she understands. Her feelings on Yondu remain mixed. On one hand, she does owe him Peter’s life, at least two times over, and he seemed like he wasn’t a terrible father-figure, all around. On the other, the first time she met Yondu he got very close to _killing_ Peter, and Peter has enough emotional trauma from him to last a lifetime. 

Her opinion on Yondu is irrelevant at the moment, however. Peter loves him, and that’s what matters right now. 

“The same is true of the good moments, then,” she says. “You had happy memories with Yondu, too. And you’ll have many more with Groot.” 

“I don’t want Groot to see me the way I saw Yondu at his age, though,” Peter whispers. 

“He doesn’t,” she assures him. This is not a new fear of his by any means, though he’s brought it up less and less over the years. “You’re a much better father than Yondu was. You know that. Remember what we read in the parenting book? It’s normal for children his age to go through a phase like this.” 

Peter nods, and he’s stopped crying, though he still seems perturbed. “I’m terrible at handling Groot when he gets like this. He doesn’t listen to me the way he does to you. Or Rocket.” 

“That’s true,” she allows, “because he listens to _all_ of us in different ways. But he does listen.”

“I s’pose,” he says, but he doesn’t sound like he believes her. 

“Peter,” she says, pausing her hand in his hair to make sure he’s focused on her words. He looks up at her questioningly. “I promise he does. You just have to go and actually talk to him.” 

“Alright,” he sighs, a little smile tugging at his lips as she starts stroking his hair again. “Sorry I--stormed off instead of coming back to the kitchen. I guess I’m still a bratty kid sometimes.”

“You are not,” she says. She often has to reassure him about his parenting skills, but he’s had to do the same for her at least as many times, possibly more. “Well, most of the time.”

He sticks his tongue out at her and she laughs. 

“I’ll go talk to him,” he says seriously, but he closes his eyes and nuzzles at her stomach with his nose as if he’s an animal curling up to sleep. She smiles fondly, because she’d been fully aware this was a possibility when she started touching his hair. “Just--five more minutes.”

“Two.”

“Three?”

“Two,” Gamora says, “and if Groot still doesn’t listen this time, I’ll come in and take away his video games until he does.”

“Deal.”


End file.
